Coronavirus and schools
As a new school year gets underway, two teachers’ unions are concerned that the province’s latest rules
will lead to a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases.
Earlier this week, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health said people who come down with COVID-19 no longer need to isolate themselves for five days before returning to work or school.
Doctor Kieran Moore says, instead, they should stay home until their symptoms have eased and they should wear a face mask for ten days.
But the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation say they’re concerned that allowing children and teachers to return to the classroom while still possibly contagious could cause the virus to spread faster in schools.
They say that could lead to the same massive disruptions we’ve seen in the education system over the past two years of the pandemic.
Urging Canadians to get boosted
Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos is urging Canadians to get their COVID-19 booster shots, as we face what he calls a “challenging” autumn.
Duclos says Canada was at the forefront in getting people their first two inoculations.
But Canadians have fallen behind other industrialized countries in our booster-shot rates only ahead of the United States.
Just under 50 percent of Canadians have received the first two inoculations plus one booster shot only 12 percent have had both boosters.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says that, as much as everyone would like to see COVID-9 in the past, it’s still spreading across the country.
The nuclear plant in Ukraine
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency says his staff will remain at the site of Europe’s nuclear power plant, located in Russian-occupied territory in southern Ukraine.
A team of inspectors managed to cross the front lines to visit the plant yesterday and while most have now returned, Rafael Grossi says several are staying behind for an undetermined period of time.
Grossi says their initial inspection has shown the region around the plant has been “violated” several times, are they still have concerns about its safety.
Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of launching artillery attacks on the plant, sparking fears of a nuclear disaster.
Ten-year sentence for Capital Building rioter
A 52-year-old retired New York City police officer has been sentenced to ten years in prison for attacking a police officer with a flag pole during the storming of the U-S Capitol Building in Washington on January 6th, 2021.
It’s the longest sentence yet handed out to the 250 or so people who have already been convicted in connection with the attack.
Thomas Webster was the first of the rioters to be tried on an assault charge.
A jury rejected his claim that he was acting in self defence.